(Football news) With four matchdays remaining, FC Barcelona mathematically secured the title of LaLiga Santander champions. Barcelona have already won 27 league trophies, their first since 2019. Xavi Hernández has now joined the elite group of FC Barcelona greats who have both played on and coached their teams to league titles.

Here are five of the primary explanations for how and why FC Barcelona was able to win their first LaLiga Santander trophy in four years.

Solid Defence

Barcelona has allowed the fewest goals allowed this season of any side in the five major European leagues. Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, and Jules Koundé were all acquired by Barcelona in the summer in an effort to bolster their defence. Together, they helped make Barcelona’s back line the greatest defence in Spain this year. 

Following Gerard Piqué’s retirement in the middle of the season, Ronald Arajo also stepped up and took the helm of FC Barcelona’s defence. Alejandro Balde’s outstanding play at left-back even forced Xavi to bench his former teammate Jordi 

Alba on numerous occasions in favour of the 19-year-old Alejandro Balde due to the latter’s outstanding play. When they were eventually breached, Marc-André ter Stegen was there to make some fantastic saves. His Barcelona goalkeepers and defence had kept an incredible 25 clean sheets in their first 34 games of the season.

Goals scored by Robert Lewandowski

Since Lionel Messi left FC Barcelona in 2021, Lewandowski has filled the void left by the player. Lewandowski joined the team last summer. In all but one of these eight seasons, the Argentine was LaLiga Santander’s leading scorer, tallying at least 30 goals each time.

After that, the Blaugrana had difficulty scoring in the final third in 2021–2022, a season in which no FC Barcelona player scored more than 12 goals. Lewandowski, who has scored 21 goals in 30 games and is vying with Karim Benzema of Real Madrid for the Pichichi Trophy, is now in the picture. 

Over the course of the season, Lewandowski’s firepower gave the club the edge they needed to penetrate tight defences and get past low blocks. Marc-André ter Stegen’s clean sheets in 2022–2023 were not as significant as his goals.

The stronghold of FC Barcelona

Several things have contributed to FC Barcelona supporters packing the Spotify Camp Nou week in and week out this season, including summer acquisitions, appealing football, and eagerness to help their team win its first league championship since 2019. 

The renowned FC Barcelona stadium, which regularly hosts more than 82,000 spectators per game, has been transformed into a fortress. In reality, the Blaugrana have won 14 and drawn 3 of their first 17 matches at home without suffering a loss. 

The only teams to prevent Xavi’s team from losing at home were Rayo Vallecano (0-0) in the LaLiga Santander season opening, RCD Espanyol (1-1) on Matchday 15, and Girona FC (0-0) on Matchday 28. They have just conceded only two goals thus far. 

Team depth

Unquestionably, this season, Pedri and Ousmane Dembélé have been two of the most crucial parts of Xavi’s well-oiled engine. But during the most important part of the season, from February to April, the Catalan coach saw those two players miss 11 and 17, respectively, owing to injury. 

But when the Blaugrana needed them most, summer acquisitions like Franck Kessié and Raphinha as well as squad members like Sergi Roberto came through to help the team secure crucial wins, including a 2-1 victory over Real Madrid at home thanks to goals from the former AC Milan midfielder and the La Masia academy graduate.

Xavi’s tactical adjustment

In most of FC Barcelona’s games following the 2022 World Cup break, Xavi experimented with his formation and went with one natural winger rather than two due to injuries to and a momentary decline in form from some of his attackers. 

Although the Catalan coach didn’t completely abandon his preferred 4-3-3 formation, he did field lineups with four midfielders because either Gavi or Kessié would play up close to Lewandowski in an effort to connect with the Polish striker, capitalise on opponent mistakes, and create danger in front of the opposing goal. With the help of Xavi’s magic, FC Barcelona was able to control the tempo in the middle of the pitch and add a second attacker.

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